Beach Sweeps Jessup Behind .536 Hitting Night

Thursday, March 12

Long Beach, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

13-2,0-0Big West

Jessup

6-8,0-4MPSF

Jessup

Long Beach St.

Myles Jordan, Island Doty, Kellen Larson

3/12/2026 9:19:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Long Beach State rolls to 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 win at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid

By: Chelsea Pfohl, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State delivered a dominant offensive performance Thursday night, sweeping Jessup 3-0 at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The Beach won by set scores of 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 to improve to 13-2 overall.

Long Beach State hit .536 as a team with 45 kills against just eight errors on 69 swings. The Beach sided out at a 82 percent rate in the final set and finished the night above 77 percent in every frame, consistently applying pressure in serve-receive and in transition.

Skyler Varga led a balanced attack with 9 kills on 13 swings, hitting .615 while adding 4 block assists and 10 digs. Braedon Marquardt was nearly automatic, producing 7 kills on 8 attempts for an .875 clip and totaling 10.0 points. Wojciech Gajek added a match-high 10 kills, and Jackson Cryst was highly efficient with 6 kills on 7 swings for an .857 percentage. Connor Bloom chipped in 3 kills on 4 errorless attacks.

Jake Pazanti orchestrated the offense with 30 assists, guiding the Beach to a .750 hitting percentage in the first set and .630 in the third. Long Beach State outblocked Jessup 8.5 to 3.0 and also generated 7 service aces, including key runs in each set to separate from the Warriors.

The Beach seized control early in the opening frame. After Jessup kept the score tight at 5-4, Long Beach State used a 10-4 surge behind the serving of Marquardt and Gajek to build a 15-9 advantage. Pazanti distributed effectively in-system, and the Beach closed the set on a 10-4 run, hitting .750 with 16 kills and just one error.

Set two featured more extended rallies, but Long Beach State's block and transition offense proved decisive. With the score at 15-12, the Beach strung together a 6-2 stretch, highlighted by a Cryst service ace and multiple termination swings from Marquardt. The Beach held Jessup to .059 hitting in the set and limited the Warriors to one team block.

In the third, Long Beach State again broke it open midway through. Leading 12-10, the Beach scored five of the next six points, fueled by kills from Bloom and Gajek and a service ace from Daniil Hershtynovich. Long Beach State hit .630 in the final frame with 19 kills and only two errors, siding out at 82 percent to close out the match.

Defensively, libero Kellen Larson anchored the back row with 17 digs and a perfect reception percentage. As a team, the Beach recorded 21 digs and held Jessup to .157 hitting across the three sets.

Long Beach state will look to secure the series sweep tomorrow night in the Pyramid. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.